Privacy Policy - HeadStart Online

Your privacy is important to us. As a visitor to the website, you can be assured that if you choose to contact us via our website, we will not share any personal information about you with third parties without your permission. The only exception would be if your communication highlighted a child protection issue, or other issue that may result in police action. In such circumstances, we may be legally obliged to take action.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Cookies

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Privacy Policy - HeadStart research, evaluation & surveys

What is the purpose of the study?

The aim of the HeadStart programme is to provide support to children and young people to improve their general well-being and to support those who may need some additional help coping with difficulties in life. The current research is an evaluation of the HeadStart Wolverhampton programme to find out which kinds of support for children work best.

What is the duration of the research?

The evaluation research will run from May 2017 until the end of 2022. The first survey will take place in 2017 and there will be follow up surveys over the course of the programme. If you agree, your child will complete a survey once a year for 3-5 years. Some children will have the opportunity to get involved in other evaluation activities (e.g. discussions surrounding their thoughts of the programme) at various points throughout the 5 year period.

What will parents/guardians be asked to do?

We are asking permission for your child to complete a survey in school as part of the HeadStart programme. We will ask some pupils for their thoughts in small group discussions. The survey asks them about their school, friends, and themselves. It takes about 30 minutes. A teacher will be there to help answer any questions. The results will tell us if any children might benefit from additional support. We would like your permission to access other sources of information on your child held by the school or local authority. All information will be used and stored confidentially. The information may also be used for reports about HeadStart but your child will not be identified. It may also be linked to information about whether a child has received any additional support or services for resilience or emotional well-being. This will be used to understand more about different characteristics of young people completing the survey and understand whether support provided to children and young people help them feel better.

Who is being asked to take part?

All children in HeadStart schools (excluding those who have opted out) in year 6 and 7.

What will your child be asked to do?

Listen to some information about the research.

Tick a box if they are still happy to take part.

Complete a short survey about their school, friends, and themselves.

What are the possible risks/disadvantages of taking part?

There are no known risks/disadvantages to taking part in this survey. If any risks or disadvantages become known during the research, you and your child will be told immediately.

Who has reviewed the research?

A Research Ethics Committee in the Institute of Education, at the University of Wolverhampton has approved the research, to protect your interests. If you ever wish to make a formal complaint about the conduct of the research, in the first instance, you should contact Karl Royle, Faculty of Education Health and Well-being, University of Wolverhampton.

What are the possible benefits of taking part?

There is no guaranteed benefit in taking part; however most people find taking part in research rewarding. They will contribute to the development of the Wolverhampton Programme and to the future well-being of local young people.

What data is the research using?

We will use the survey results to understand how children feel about their school, friends, and themselves. We may link the data to local authority information about additional support or services for resilience or emotional well-being. This will be used to understand more about the children completing the survey.

How will my child’s data be stored and who will have access to it?

All information will be treated as strictly confidential. The research team will ensure that the highest standards of confidentiality are maintained throughout.

The survey data may be used to identify children who may benefit from additional support however following this initial identification the data will be anonymised.

A member of the research team and the data lead at the local authority will have access to the identifiable data from other sources such as health and social care data. Identifiable data will only be used to link different information sources. Once the data is linked, it will be anonymised and the analysis will be carried out on the anonymised data.

The University of Wolverhampton will conduct the survey. The website that houses the survey will be completely secure and password protected. All survey data will be stored on a secure and password protected server to which only senior members of the research team have access.

All data will be collected and stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 (replaced by the General Data Protection Regulation after 25 May 2018 when the regulation comes into force) and will be held for a period of 5-7 years.The information may be presented at conferences or used as part of academic publications and a student project. No information presented will identify any individuals involved.

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